A.M. NEWS MONDAY 8-4-14

Governor Cuomo signed “Vince’s Law” Friday that extends the time frame in which multiple DWI’s can be considered to automatically invoke a felony. The bill is Named after Vincent Russo, who died after being struck head-on by a driver with multiple DWI’s, Vincent’s Law will raise the penalty levels for offenders who commit 3 or more DWI-related offenses within 15 years, with a maximum determinate prison sentence of up to 7 years in state prison and a fine of up to $10,000—where previously such repeat offenses might not have been prosecuted as a felony at all.

——————————————

New York’s property-tax cap limit will be 1.56% next year for counties, towns and most cities that run on a fiscal year that starts Jan. 1st. It was 2 percent the previous two years. The cap limit each year is set at either the rate of inflation or 2 percent, whichever is lower. The tax cap can be overridden by a 60 percent vote of the local governing board or in the case of schools, by a 60 percent vote of the public. In the current fiscal year, about 70 percent of local governments stayed within the cap, while about 95 percent of schools did

—————————————-

A former Walton teacher accused of having sex with underage students will go on trial today. Stephanie Fletcher pleaded not guilty Thursday in Delaware County Court to two counts of rape and four counts of criminal sexual act. 29-year-old Fletcher is charged with having sex with two young men under the age of 17 between January and March of 2012. In February, a judge dismissed the original indictment because the grand jury did not receive one of the victim’s written statements. That statement would have said the victim was 17 years old at the time of the alleged incident, which is the legal age of consent in New York. Her trial is scheduled to begin on August 4.

——————————————–

Police are reporting scams against elderly residents. The grandparent scam involves a phone call or email from someone claiming to be the victim’s grandchild or other family member who is in trouble and in need of money. The victim is instructed to wire money or to send cash in the form of gift cards to an address out of the country. The “grandparent scam” has been circulating nationwide since about 2008. Police remind people never to wire money to someone who cannot prove their identity or pretends to be a representative of the government.